Click on a thumbnail to see a full image of each piece.

Catscan, 1995. Insulation foam, glue. foreshortened view 31"h x 29"w x 64" d.	Catscan, 1995. 3/4 view	Wheelchair/ Laptop, 1995. 24"h x 22"w x 54"d. Insulation foam, glue. foreshortened view
Wheelchair/ Laptop, 1995. Side view	Crash Position/ Headphones, 1996. 4' h x 4' w x 17' d. Insulation foam, wood, aluminum. foreshortened view	Crash Position/ Headphones, 1996. Installation view.
E.M.T., 1995. each figure approx. 1" x 3" x 9". Wood, flocking. 55 figures. Dimensions variable.	Pencil drawings, 1997. each 8 1/2" x 11". Studies for current sculptures.	Ventilator, 1997. pencil on graph paper
	Operating Table (model). 1997. 42"h x 80"l x 9"d. Cardboard,tape.

A R T I S T ' S   S T A T E M E N T   :   S t e v e   R o b i n s o n   1 9 9 7

In my sculpture, two states of appearance are layered into one object. What first appears as abstraction is actually based upon a representation, from a series of pink foam pieces to recent drawings of hospital equipment.

Each of the pink foam pieces transforms a flat image into a three-dimensional object, made by stacking layers of foam. Only from a single point of view will a viewer see the source image. The figures in these pieces are facilitated, restricted and created in technical surroundings. One figure relies upon a wheelchair and a laptop computer to navigate the world; another figure crouches in the crash position, wearing headphones.

A different piece catalogues the positions of rescue (mouth-to-mouth, Heimlich maneuver, Fireman's carry, etc.) from a paramedic training manual and presents them as playful, fuzzy yellow block figures. These are scattered on the floor in a yellow blot. My recent drawings and full-scale models (studio studies) are re-presentations of hospital furniture.

The subjects in these representations, the figures that emerge from the abstractions, are paramedics, patients, passengers, victims, survivors. Their language and landscape is one of technological peril and potential. They play in a drama of the exceptional brought into the everyday. That is, a normal environment, or what has become a normal existence: embodiment across distance, physical connection through communications media, the preservation of lived experience through documentation.

An essay of mine from several months ago, "Notes on Trauma", describes the normalization of trauma as a significant cultural event and suggests that a "style" of trauma has emerged. These objects also attempt to arrive at a moment of impact: they are trying to represent in-between states, to describe a place that is probably unknowable. I'm connecting revelation to trauma and seeing what results.



A R T I S T ' S   R E S U M E   :   S t e v e   R o b i n s o n   1 9 9 7

Education
M.F.A.	Yale School of Art
B.F.A.	Cornell University, College of Architecture, Art and Planning
Group Exhibitions
1996	"Weather Channels", Art Initiatives, 148 Duane Street, New York, NY. "PSY-FI", Real Art Ways, 56 Arbor Street, Hartford, CT.
1995	M.F.A. Exhibit, Yale School of Art. A & A Gallery, 180 York Street, New Haven, CT.
1994	All-School Exhibit, Yale School of Art. "Slim-Fit Sculpture", 5 Bridge Street, Shelton, CT. A month-long exhibit inside a factory building. "Prints x Three", a travelling exhibit; Cornell University, Rhode Island School of Design, and California State University, Long Beach.
1993	First-Year Exhibit, Yale School of Art.
1990	B.F.A. Exhibit, Cornell University. Tjaden Gallery, Ithaca, New York.
Bibliography
Rosloff, Patricia. "Cozying Up to the Psy-Fi Future" Hartford Advocate (January 18). Starger, Steve. "Artists' Work Derives from Dreams, Technology, Genetic Experiments" Connecticut Journal Inquirer (February 23). Zimmer, William. "Remember that Weird Stuff Students May Have Had in the 70's?" New York Times (February 18).
Published Writing
"Notes on Trauma", Hvedekorn Number 4, 1996, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Visiting Artist
1997	Bard Center for Curatorial Studies, slide talk held at Artists Space, New York, NY Independent Artists Group, The Silvermine Guild, New Canaan, Connecticut